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Samurai Jack
Jack (also known as Samurai Jack or simply The Samurai) is the alias taken by a Japanese warrior (with an unknown birth name) who acts as the titular protagonist of the cartoon Samurai Jack. Throughout the series, he is voiced by Phil LaMarr. Since youth, Jack trained in many different areas under numerous teachers in a variety of skills to defeat the demon Aku. However, Aku's dark magic sent Jack eons into the future, where he ruled all of Earth unopposed. Jack made it his mission to find a way back to his time and prevent Aku's dystopia. Throughout his travels, Jack became an infamous freedom fighter, protecting and aiding numerous civilizations and innocents terrorized by Aku's forces and other malevolent foes. Due to his many revolts against Aku's rule and being the only person capable of killing him (because of his divinely crafted sword) he was the most wanted man in the world. After more than 50 years, Jack finally returned to the past and defeated Aku, creating a brighter future. Background Personality Jack strongly exhibits the characteristics of a stoic hero. He is unfailingly kind and generous, and will always attempt to help those in need, as well as dispatching sage like wisdom to those he believes are in need of guidance. He often ends up sacrificing a chance to return to his own time in order to help someone else. He has had considerable development during his time in the future. Initially, though polite and refined, he was very quick to anger and even more quick to being frustrated or irritated. His quest to return to his own time, having been thwarted again and again, even convinced him for a short time that returning to the past was impossible. However, over time, he has become much more patient and calm. He is also clever and rational, able to pose a plan or a strategy necessary to defeat the enemy, and also knowing his limits (such as when he is surrounded by too many enemies to defeat them by pure force). He is also extremely good at thinking on his feet, often improvising his way out of lethal, or impossibly bizarre, situations. He is also a very solitary man, tending not to socialize due to his focus on his quest. In Season 5, his lack of social skills is highlighted in his interactions with Ashi, first when he tries to convince her of Aku's evil and later when he tries to bond with her. He once jokes in XCV about the raining needles stuck in their bodies, claiming people pay for it and that it is called acupuncture, then later shyly compliments her new dress and hair in XCVII. Though not expanded upon, his lack of socializing makes him more shy and awkward around women, exemplified through his interactions with Ikra, Josephine, and in particular Ashi, whom he becomes infatuated with. While he is fine working with and befriending several people (regardless of gender) throughout his journey both during his training in the past and current quest in the future, he becomes shy during more intimate moments. However a running gag in the show (During Seasons 1-4) is his inability or reluctance to understand the technology of the future, such as in one episode where Jack had attempted to escape Aku's fortress after rescuing two fairy like creatures by driving a hovercar, but he fails to operate it competently, claiming he prefers to walk. He is also quite good at keeping his wits about him when confronted with the outlandishly strange circumstances that he often finds himself in, simply rolling with the proverbial punches rather than becoming upset or baffled. After 50 years in the future, between losing his father's sword (the only means of killing Aku) and all known means of return to the past being destroyed, Jack has become disillusioned with the idea of ever completing his quest. He is emotionally vulnerable, showing signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as he is often haunted by hallucinations of his family and the people of the past, constantly asking him why he didn't return to save them. Also, in Episode XCIII, his mind manifests a hallucination of Mad Jack, demanding that Jack give up and end his constant suffering, means that Jack is contemplating seppuku (traditional Japanese suicide) in this episode. Despite his weariness and seeming lack of hope, Jack refuses to surrender, continuing his quest to save people from Aku's tyranny wherever possible. At the same time, he also becomes open-minded with technology in which he begins to utilize high-tech weaponry, explosive, and riding a motorbike. Despite his decades of training and fighting as the ultimate warrior, and his seemingly endless journey hardening his overall outlook, Jack's general nature is still rather inexperienced, having never directly taken the life of a human-being or sentient alien. He is able to distance himself from the knowledge of all the robots and androids he has destroyed by noting that they are just "nuts and bolts". However, upon actually killing such a being, one Daughter of Aku, he was left horrified at the sight. However he later comes to term with his first kill after a memory of remembering his father's word of wisdom and is able to handle killing the remaining Daughters of Aku. Despite this, he still dislikes the notion of having to kill unless absolutely necessary, and will never harm an innocent. Jack at the same time has become more the easily angered due to Mad Jack's influence after Aku destroyed the last time portal. This cause him to become easily more annoyed, aggressive and angered. He eventually let go of his anger in order to be worthy of using his sword again. Physical appearance Early in the series, Jack's face was depicted as long and rectangular; however, later in the show it became more like a square with a distinct eastern look. As an adult, he is fairly tall and lean but fit in build, and has long jet black hair that he keeps tied in a Japanese chonmage. Jack's clothing consists of a simple white and gray gi in the style of a kimono, a white obi around his waist, and a pair of wooden geta. His geta were once destroyed in Episode XXVI, but were eventually replaced by a jet repairman named Tengu who crafted similar geta for himself and his family. Throughout the show, whenever Jack's kimono is severely damaged in battle, he simply tears off the top half to continue fighting unhindered. Because he starts each new episode with his kimono fully intact, it can be assumed that Jack repairs his clothing in-between episodes. In the image shown by the time portal guarded by the Guardian depicting an older version of himself, Jack is shown to have waist-long beard and hair. He is also shown to be wearing a golden crown and a red cape with scars all over his body. As of Season 5, it is revealed that Jack cannot age as a side-effect of Aku's time portal. He has grown a large beard and wears full Samurai armor with a mask resembling a Japanese Oni and a holster across his torso. In Episode XCII his mask was destroyed by a horde of Beetle Drones, and he discarded his helmet and shoulder pads while fighting Scaramouch. He appeared with his full armor again in Episode XCIII only for it to be completely destroyed by the Daughters of Aku, shortening his beard and leaving him wearing only tattered rags. In Episode XCV, Jack created some makeshift armor from the discarded exoskeleton of a centipede-like creature while trapped inside a larger monster, though it too was lost following his escape. In Episode XCVI, Jack steals a gray wide brimmed hat, lavender tailcoat, dark blue slacks and black cowboy boots from local vendors while visiting a city, giving him the appearance of an Old Western outlaw. Unfortunately, this disguise was ripped to pieces while Jack was rescuing mind-controlled children from one of Aku's factories. By Episode XCVIII, Odin, Ra, and Vishnu return Jack to his classic look, restoring his kimono, removing his beard and styling his hair back up in a topknot. In Episode CI, he wore a set of traditional Japanese wedding garment which consisted of a black crested haori jacket and a loose hakama. 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